California Day Two

I know these posts have way too many pictures in them, but really, I am taking on average 300 pictures a day, so...



Today we had a mellow morning at my mom's house. The kids managed to sleep until 5 a.m., and even though that is an improvement, I'm still too tired to remember what we did at the beginning of the day. I do know Mom and the girls went for a walk to pick flowers, allowing Henry and I to take a wonderful nap! AND when I woke up and was just lying there quietly - I felt the baby move!! Considering he (she?) is measuring about 14 weeks, that is just about when I started feeling Henry too. What a reassuring feeling! And another little "hey there" from God this morning



It was SO beautiful!

The girls also drew and painted on their new easel.







And after lunch, Amelia napped while Sophia and Henry played





and Sophia swung on trees. That girl really is a monkey.



Henry busted his lip on a coffee table this morning. I told Sophia she better watch out - yesterday it was Amelia, today it was Henry, tomorrow it might be her!

Then we headed to the beach.



The clouds had cleared and it was beautiful, though still a tad chilly. Especially for this girl who got caught in a wave and soaked from head to toe!



I told my brother that he is going to have to teach her to surf one day - she'll be good, because she has NO fear when it comes to water! Sophia would have been traumatized for life and never gone near water again - Amelia cried for a second and then started laughing like "woah! did you see that?!" And she was right back out there.



And the rest of the day, she would tell everyone about how a wave got her - with pride.



Henry tasted every piece of seaweed



always with regret.

But mostly he just played with the sand - he was SO happy at the beach (until the end, when he was hungry and tired).



Sophia ran in and out of the surf too



and played with Uncle Victor - he hung the moon in their eyes!





It was a little windy sometimes ha ha!



Sophia and my mom played frisbee - but Sophia said they each scored zero points,



while Henry and Amelia played with sand toys





and my brother built an awesome fire



Then it was weenie roasting time!



Yesterday Henry kept trying to crawl into the ocean, today he kept trying to crawl into the fire.



Crazy kid!

This was so sweet - Sophia found a piece of coal and wrote a note for her Daddy on a rock.



We ran into my old principal, Mr. Pallistrini, at the beach. It's one of my favorite things about coming back to this small town - I always run into people who have been here all this time. I don't even like to think about how long "all this time" has been, since I had Mr. Pallistrini for a principal - WAY too long!

And I think the biggest hit of the day, Uncle Victor made s'mores for everyone!





Is there anything better than gooey marshmallows that are a little burned on the outside? I don't think so.



Look - I was there too! It's so hard for me to remember to (or want to) get in front of the camera, but then I am always mad at myself for having no vacation pictures with ME in them.



We came home and I think everyone was just barely making it. Mom gave the girls a bath in the tub while Henry got a quick rinse-off in the sink, and then it was straight to bed



which is where I am headed as soon as I switch out some sandy laundry.